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Astral Putters Review

cringjr said:
@Boosted
@ScoFoBG
@cmon man
@leftybob

I know there is a different sound/feel between the steel, brass and copper inserts. Do you see any difference in how the ball reacts to each? Does one get the ball rolling faster than the others? Is distance control more difficult with one over the other?
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I think the differences are very minor and it's all about how the inserts feel to the individual. Ball roll seemed to be consistent among all three inserts. I have experienced not a single hop, skip or jump on any of the three (other than the normal turf or debris influences). In terms of distance control I don't think difficulty is a word I would use, but it did seem that the steel insert required a big more force/backswing on some longer putts. I don't have real data to back that up however. It may just be the comfort factor I have with the copper and oddly enough, the bronze. To stress again, all three are great performance wise and it is really down to personal preference or even looks.
 
BC.Astral said:
Don't really have any insights on change in face insert based temperature other than perceived hardening of the ball/feel as it gets cooler. Hadn't really considered it as a separate variable until now.

All metals shrink and expand based on temperature, but they tend to move pretty much in concert. We did learn we had to mill everything in a temperature controlled environment to ensure all the connections work, but that's honestly where my mind stopped chasing the thread. Something to look into for sure!
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Thanks again for the response Blake. Any comments about of different perceptions on ball reactions to the various inserts? Also any discussion of the alloys (keeping trade secrets proprietary of course) in the three inserts?
 
cmon man said:
I think the differences are very minor and it's all about how the inserts feel to the individual. Ball roll seemed to be consistent among all three inserts. I have experienced not a single hop, skip or jump on any of the three (other than the normal turf or debris influences). In terms of distance control I don't think difficulty is a word I would use, but it did seem that the steel insert required a big more force/backswing on some longer putts. I don't have real data to back that up however. It may just be the comfort factor I have with the copper and oddly enough, the bronze. To stress again, all three are great performance wise and it is really down to personal preference or even looks.
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If I understood what @BC.Astral said during the mallet fitting correctly the brass and copper are milled identically. Steel is lighter than the other two metals and to get the weight correct the steel is thicker across the entire face. Across the face the steel has a much more consistent sound. Heel or toe strikes on the other two the sound is significantly more muted.
 
cmon man said:
Thanks again for the response Blake. Any comments about of different perceptions on ball reactions to the various inserts? Also any discussion of the alloys (keeping trade secrets proprietary of course) in the three inserts?
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What everyone is reporting here is what I would say about the three inserts - which is that they are all different, but not hugely different. We rate the copper as being the softest, brass the middle option, and steel is the hardest option. From our in-house testing, that hardness correlates with energy transfer and runout distance. Now in reality, we are talking only a couple feet difference over let's say a 20 foot lag. So while steel is harder than our copper, our steel is still quite a bit softer the average milled putter on the market today.

The big difference between the 3 faces comes down to feel, feedback, and appearance. I feel pretty confident in saying just about anyone would like any of the 3 faces if tested in isolation, but it's wild just how quickly people develop strong preferences once they get the option to try 2 or more side by side.

Each of the metals was selected for specific characteristics and that shows up in the feel profile. Copper is a really soft metal and has conductivity features that make the physical feedback really clear. My personal sensation is that I get a really satisfying "thud" impact and then the putter almost hums back to me through the hands to tell me about the quality of the stroke. Brass is only marginally harder, but it's the higher pitch "ting" that distinguishes it. Audio recordings don't capture it, but man you can hear it in a different way when the club is in your hand. I love it and it's my gamer most of the time, but it is the most polarizing of the bunch for sure. Because of the really affirmative audio and physical feedback, a lot of people perceive the brass as being the hardest option. Carbon steel, while the hardest option, is still an amazingly soft feeling face. It's got a nice "click" at impact and as @leftybob noted the feel is more consistent across the face.

@leftybob did an amazing job remembering and explaining how and why the steel face is actually a different design, so take a look above for that background and his thoughts.
 
Spent more time on the putting mat last night. The one thing that really stands out to me with this putter is how quickly the ball gets rolling end over end. Good roll weather strike is center face, out on toe or in on the heel side.
 
BC.Astral said:
What everyone is reporting here is what I would say about the three inserts - which is that they are all different, but not hugely different. We rate the copper as being the softest, brass the middle option, and steel is the hardest option. From our in-house testing, that hardness correlates with energy transfer and runout distance. Now in reality, we are talking only a couple feet difference over let's say a 20 foot lag. So while steel is harder than our copper, our steel is still quite a bit softer the average milled putter on the market today.

The big difference between the 3 faces comes down to feel, feedback, and appearance. I feel pretty confident in saying just about anyone would like any of the 3 faces if tested in isolation, but it's wild just how quickly people develop strong preferences once they get the option to try 2 or more side by side.

Each of the metals was selected for specific characteristics and that shows up in the feel profile. Copper is a really soft metal and has conductivity features that make the physical feedback really clear. My personal sensation is that I get a really satisfying "thud" impact and then the putter almost hums back to me through the hands to tell me about the quality of the stroke. Brass is only marginally harder, but it's the higher pitch "ting" that distinguishes it. Audio recordings don't capture it, but man you can hear it in a different way when the club is in your hand. I love it and it's my gamer most of the time, but it is the most polarizing of the bunch for sure. Because of the really affirmative audio and physical feedback, a lot of people perceive the brass as being the hardest option. Carbon steel, while the hardest option, is still an amazingly soft feeling face. It's got a nice "click" at impact and as @leftybob noted the feel is more consistent across the face.

@leftybob did an amazing job remembering and explaining how and why the steel face is actually a different design, so take a look above for that background and his thoughts.
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Thanks Blake! Awesome description and I have found the the same regarding very slight differences and loving them the inserts. I also love that "feel feedback" from the copper. That and the look are what make it number one but by the slimmest margin.
 
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More on the topic of inserts….

I started with the copper insert because based on the questions asked during the fitting, we felt (no pun intended) that the copper would be the one for me.

I played a round with the copper, swapped to the steel insert and played 18 yesterday with it. Next time out will be this Friday and it will be with the brass insert.

Based on what has been stated so far and what I’ve experienced in my tests, I’ll probably end up with the copper insert as my gamer. I do have an idea that I talked to Blake about that I may try as well. :cool:
 
Hey THP! Some follow ups from me after a couple putting sessions, a fitting consult with Ryan Kelly, and one on course round (I'll break this into 2 separate posts):

Practice Session:
I started with the hosel in the position it was sent to me in, which closely mirrored my Odyssey Versa 1W double bend shaft as far as the amount of toe hang, and the copper face as I wanted to start with the softest option. I'll call out that in my fitting, Ryan was clear that Astral doesn't necessarily prescribe to "feel like a slant neck, double bend, plumber's neck, etc" and rather is exclusively using their proprietary system to deliver you putts that start on line as well as a look and feel through the stroke that suits your preferences. Nonetheless, I did ask them to send it to me as close to my current putter as possible and it was damn close. But I really appreciate their approach and it aligns 100% with the way I fit people for putters.

I started by hitting 15 foot putts, 3 of each with the Astral and 3 with the Odyssey. I then went inside 5 feet and then hit some long lag putts. Initially, the feel was jarring as it was considerably firmer than what I'm used to, as well as the head size being a bit smaller heel to toe. The more putts I hit, the more I started to fall in love. Balls were coming off with a crisp but muted click sound, and starting very on line.

I then switched to the steel face and did the same thing, this time focusing on the distance control. I found both the copper and steel to produce very consistent distance on center and toe side strikes. The one thing I did find was that putts hit low on the face lost A LOT of steam. It's a rare miss for me, but if you are someone who catches putts low, I think it's important to know.

I also compared to a Bettinardi BB28SB which is fairly similar to my other putters, and I would say the feel off the copper was closer to that. So don't expect insert level softness on any of these faces. They are all medium to firm in my opinion, but the sound is great. Reminds me of those really old Ping's that actually generated a faint overtone.

Overall-after the first long session I was quite impressed and was excited to learn more, mess with the settings a bit, and play a round. I honestly felt comfortable really quick with this putter and wasn't hesitating to put it in play at all.

Fitting Consult w/ Ryan Kelly:
First of all, Ryan and I just chatted Astral, his role, putters in general, and got to know each other a bit. My goal was to just get a better understanding of how to use the fitting system and continue my testing. I'm fairly knowledgeable about putter fitting, especially the basics on lie, loft, grip, length, stroke arc, etc. so I was looking for any of that. Ryan delivered. He walked me through each component, we took the putter apart and put it back together a few times, and discussed what other settings I might want to try. He then also shared some wild/extreme settings that he thinks are fun to try and actually end up getting used occasionally (think massive onset/offset)

After our conversation, I put together a few of the configurations, and landed on position B1 (painted side down) in the White Hosel. It ended up giving me something of a lie angle balanced setup (though Ryan says they can't actually achieve lie angle balance, but rather provides a similar result in some of the settings)

This setting looks a little strange at first, as there is a scosche of onset, but I just air swung it a few times and I knew it was going to be the right one. I did take it out to a practice green and hit a couple dozen putts and I was blown away. Center face hits and slightly toe side hits, every one was coming off exactly on line. I then lined up balls using the line on the ball and the pureness of the roll was off the charts. I think this setting also helped from a loft perspective over the original way I had it set up as I no longer had balls jumping occasionally like the first session.

(more to come in post 2 shortly for the on course round)
 
PiratePenguin said:
The copper face is effing gorgeous outside. 😍

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Really satisfying low pitched “tock” sound at impact. (Sounds lower and better outdoors than in my garage.)

I’d call the first round a success. Hit my lines and speed was really good. Left one really long chutt from the fringe about 12” short on 8 but rolled in par from there perfectly. Lipped out a 25” Bertie pot attempt on one hole; left Birdies short in the heart on 17 and 18. Any I missed were wrong reads. Made pretty much everything inside 6 ft.

Before any post round editing the ShotScope app has me just barely below a 5 hdcp SG Putting for the round. I’ll take that any day.

Haven’t felt so comfortable over a putter in a while.
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Love the copper+blue.
 
Decided to tinker tonight. Rolled out the putting mat and putted while the wife was watching TV. Her immediate comment was “you love to tinker with a gadget”. And she’s right. That is one of the big reasons I was interested in testing the Astral putter.

In some other threads there was a lot of talk about ZT putters so I decided to recreate some of the face positions and see the impact to my putting. The blue hosel is the most face balanced so I started there. I could recreate a toe up condition, an almost -45 position and a close to face balanced. I struggled with all of these with both push and pull misses.

Next I moved to try the blue and white in the A5, 6 and 7 positions. These all have a lot of toe hang. The hosel extends rearward behind the heel. I did not like the look or feel of any of these positions.

I’m back at red B2. I think I’ve confirmed this is the best setting for me. A little toe hang with a decent amount of offset has produced the best results so far.

The ability to basically try a “new” putter without buying a new putter is such a cool concept.
 
Played Wine and 9 at Chambers Bay tonight. Putting was my strong suit thanks to my Astral. Making more long putts and laeving misses closer. I do need to adjust my "Texas wedge" shots as the ball rolls off the putter at impact rather than jumping off. I see this as another long term plus.

I did show it to the three pros that were working this evening. None of them have heard of Astral (Chambers is a TM shop) but all loved the look and feel and the adjustability after I explained. It was pretty cool to blow their minds a bit when they commented on my setup, and then told them there were 60 settings 360 degrees around. I am loving this putter more every day and putting way better. Is it because of confidence? Hell yes. But where does this confidence come from? It's the Astral product no doubt. Anyone getting a putter fitting needs to give the Astral a try.
 
I should be getting the steel and copper inserts in the mail today. Looking forward to trying them out.
 
cringjr said:
I should be getting the steel and copper inserts in the mail today. Looking forward to trying them out.
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Cannot wait for your feedback on the differences to you.
 
JB said:
Cannot wait for your feedback on the differences to you.
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I’ve really enjoyed the brass inserts. I’m looking forward to see how these other two measure up.
 
Love the feel of the copper face, but if the steel gives a little more pop it may be worth getting one for the days I play a couple of really slow courses around here where the greens are sub-8 Stimp regularly. :unsure:
 
Package delivered

From left to right: Copper; Steel; Brass

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Changing out the insert is pretty simple and straightforward.

Have some work left to take care of today and then I’ll start some comparisons.
 
Ok. My initial thoughts after tinkering with the three inserts.

From a looks standpoint, @BC.Astral has done a great job here. All three inserts look great when installed. For me, the matte finish on the brass looks the best, with the graphite colored steel insert a close second. But the copper looks great against the black mid-mallet head.

In the sound department, the brass is the most unique with a slight “ting” when you center the club face. There is some difference in sound when you get away from center but not by much. The steel sound is fairly consistent across the face and is a more dull knock sound. The copper is more similar to the steel. All sound good. There’s no wrong answer here or anything that sets one apart from the other (maybe a little more feedback on strike location from the brass). I’m not very picky when it comes to sound.

I’ll need a little more time to see if there is any distance control differences between the inserts. I did not notice any discernible performance differences between the three on my initial use.

Steel

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Copper

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Brass

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Well thanks @leftybob .. I didn’t need a new putter but these look awesome!
 
Coulter said:
Well thanks @leftybob .. I didn’t need a new putter but these look awesome!
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The ability to micro dial in your putter setup is really game changing. Getting putts started on my line is so easy with my astral.
 
leftybob said:
The ability to micro dial in your putter setup is really game changing. Getting putts started on my line is so easy with my astral.
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The mid mallet steel has my heart already!
 
Ok after reading the article in the OP… I really want to try an astral putter! From the fitting on it sounds great!
I’ve never done a putter fitting and the customization here seems really fun!
 
Coulter said:
Ok after reading the article in the OP… I really want to try an astral putter! From the fitting on it sounds great!
I’ve never done a putter fitting and the customization here seems really fun!
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I Dare You Do It GIF
 
Gonna roll the steel insert for today’s round

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Ok. Not a bad day on the golf course. First outing with the steel insert. I think it’s now in the lead on the looks department. The graphite/grey against the black putter head looks so clean.

From a distance control standpoint, I had similar results between steel and brass. No big difference for me there.

I like the sound of steal. A nice, solid knock. Similar to any other steel face putter. It’s solid. Not a soft face at all. I like it.

The thing that stands out the most to me is on the putts just outside of gimmie range. Those 4 and 5 footers are so much easier with the confidence of knowing the ball is going to start on your intended line. Just give it enough pace to roll through most of the break and hit the center of the cup.

35 putts today. A couple of three putts. My fault and not a putter issue. Either picked a bad line or didn’t take downhill pace into account.
 
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